Red sand
by Sturmgeschuts
Summary: A trip to the beach goes horribly wrong after Tsukasa discovers a strange box buried in the sand. Challenge fic, info inside.


This was written as an entry to the second fanfiction challenge for the "Mostly Lucky Star Forum" here on the site. I hope you enjoy.

This takes place during the second year of highschool.

* * *

"It's too crowded here!" Konata practically shouted this as they tried to find a place to set up the umbrella and blankets. They had convinced their teacher to go to the beach with them on a holiday, but upon arriving...the beach proved to be quite a popular location. Of course Ms. Kuroi was not the only adult to accompany them, but unfortunately, said adult had driven off at high speeds for inexplicable reasons, leaving the schoolteacher to tend to her students.

"I'm sure we'll find a good spot soon enough." Kagami wasn't entirely telling the truth. She wanted to find a spot, but she had absolutely no idea if there was a free inch of space on the beach. "Tsukasa and Miyuki said they'd run ahead to look for a good spot...but why did you bring a shovel?"

"To look for treasure of course, in games there is always hidden pirate booty hidden on the beach." Konata's shovel was meant to be compact, but in her hands the handle was an inch longer than she was tall.

Tagging along behind them with the towels and umbrellas, Kuroi decided to join in on the conversation. "There's no treasure. People have been using this beach for years and the beach combers have scooped up anything of value."

"As long as there is sand and water, there is hope! No one can know if all the good stuff is gone unless... ." Konata trailed off as she noticed a distant gaze in her teacher's eyes, the eyes of someone who knew from firsthand experience. "Oh."

"There's Tsukasa and Miyuki, they look excited." Kagami waved to her twin, who almost fell over as she reached them, having run a long way over sand.

"Found...huff, a good...puff, spot." Tsukasa took a moment to catch her breath before continuing. "We went past the rocks at the end of the beach, and we found a smaller beach with no one on it." Tsukasa was keeping her voice down so that no one else could hear her.

"It's flanked on both sides by rocks, and a grove of trees hides it from the view of the road." Miyuki seemed unfazed by the run, though this seemed impossible as she was carrying a large drink-cooler.

"Why are you being so quiet?" Kagami found herself whispering too, despite herself.

"It's so good that we don't want anybody else to fill up the space." Tsukasa seemed eager to go back, gesturing for the group to follow.

"I didn't know there was more past the rocks. I guess it couldn't hurt to take a look." Kuroi shifted the umbrella so that it rested on her shoulder.

Tsukasa and Miyuki led the way past the other people, past the food stands, and over the rocks. On the other side was the very picture of a peaceful beach that wouldn't have been out of place on a tropical island. The short haired girl took the lead and jumped down the rocks to the pearly white sand below. "Isn't it wonderful?"

Kagami surveyed the area from atop the rocks. Something was suspicious about this beach; she couldn't place it, though what really bugged her was the lack of people. How could something like this go unnoticed for so long? "It's nice...I guess."

"What's wrong Hiiragi? Aren't ya glad we found a good spot?" Asked Kuroi who, despite hauling most of the group's gear over the obstruction, didn't seem tired at all.

"I'm glad, but doesn't it seem weird that no one has found this before us?" Kagami, ever the pessimist, glanced down the length of the beach. Nothing seemed wrong with it, yet... .

"You're just being a square. Try to enjoy yourself." Kuroi hopped down the rocks after the energetic girl before her.

"Kagamin is just afraid that she might have fun." Konata jumped down the rocks after her teacher.

"H-hey!" Kagami climbed down the rocks after the short girl, her face red.

Miyuki struggled down the rocks, the cooler being heavy from its contents. Once she was at the bottom, she carried it over to the center of the beach where Kuroi had set up the blankets and umbrella, set it down, and took a seat under the shade. She opened the cooler and pulled out a can, dropping it back in when she realised that she'd grabbed one of her teacher's beers. "Kuroi-sensei, should you really have brought this?"

"C'mon, there's nothing like sitting back on the beach and putting back a cold one." Kuroi picked out the can that Miyuki had put back and sat down beside her. "I'd offer you some, but I could lose my job."

Miyuki pulled a can of lemonade out of the cooler and leaned back. "I'll be okay with this." She smiled sweetly before opening the can and taking a drink.

* * *

Walking back from the water, Tsukasa felt exhausted. A large wave had pulled her out, and she had to swim as hard as she could to get back to shore. As she approached the Umbrella and the people below it, her foot caught on something and she fell forward. "Ouch!" Turning about, she discovered that she had tripped over the corner of a box. "What's this?" She pushed some of the sand off, and found herself face to face with English lettering; English not being her forte, she called her teacher over. "Kuroi-sensei! Take a look at this!"

Kuroi stood up and strolled over to the box, curious as to what the girl had found. "What's this? D.N.D. United States of America...The rest is too faded to read."

"America? You mean this drifted across the ocean?" Tsukasa pushed more of the sand off of the green box. "What's D.N.D. anyway?"

"I think it's the Department of National Defence...the army." Kuroi was looking at the box like it had spoken to her, and it wasn't saying anything good. "I don't think this drifted here...I think this is from World War two."

"Wow, you really know a lot about this stuff." Tsukasa was brushing rust off the padlock for the box; D.N.D. was also inscribed into the metal.

"I'm a world history teacher...If you'd pay attention in my classes you'd know too." Kuroi edged away from the box. "I don't think this is safe, we should leave it alone."

"But I want to know what—" While she was fiddling with it, Tsukasa managed to snap the corroded lock. She stared at it incredulously, her hands instinctively moving to open it. "Don't you want to know what's inside?"

Being an adult was tough, but as long as no one found out... . "Well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious...okay, let's see what's inside."

* * *

Kagami had been out on the water shouting encouragement to her sister after the girl had been dragged out. Once her sister was back to shore, she turned her attention to the blue haired girl...or she would have, had the girl not gone missing.

Below the surface of the water, the mythical blue-haired shark stalked its prey, the strands behind it mimicking the fins of those other, lesser, sharks. It caught sight of its prey, the equally rare Tsundere-fish. Moving in for the kill, it leapt forth from the water to overtake its target from above! The prey retaliated with a solid fist to the shark's head, leaving an apple-sized lump and ending the attack. "Oof!"

"Geez Konata, you shouldn't sneak up on me like that!" Kagami turned to the shore to see what everyone else was up to. Miyuki seemed to have fallen asleep; Tsukasa and Kuroi-sensei were looking at something on the beach. She swam towards them to see what was up, but immediately stopped when Kuroi leapt to her feet, grabbed the other girl by the shoulder, and fled from a partially buried box, which exploded violently. Kagami dived under the water out of instinct as sand and splinters rained down all around; upon resurfacing she found, right in front of her, the absolutely last thing she ever wanted to see, a severed human foot.

She screamed.

* * *

It all happened so fast, she and Kuroi-sensei had opened the box, then there had been this weird metallic sound, then she had seen several ring-like objects stuck to the lid of the box. Before she could try to wonder what they were, her teacher had grabbed her and pulled her away from the box...then everything went black.

* * *

Immediately after the explosion, Miyuki had rushed to the aid of her friend and teacher. Kuroi was unconscious, but she seemed fine. Tsukasa was a wreck, her left leg had been blown off halfway down the thigh, she was missing some fingers on her right hand, and she had blood trailing from the corner of her mouth. The girl was barely breathing when Miyuki reached her, towel in hand as she wrapped the stump of a leg. She bundled up her towel and placed it under the girls head, then checked for further injury. Finding none, she supported Tsukasa's head as the other two girls raced in her direction; Kagami was screaming her sister's name while Konata checked on their teacher.

The sound of a whistle alerted them to the presence of the beach lifeguards who, having heard the explosion, came running with a stretcher. Assuming the worst, they had also brought a large medical kit and a blanket in case someone had been killed.

They carried Tsukasa away first, leaving Konata and one lifeguard to stay with Kuroi. Some mumbling and confused grunts emitted from the woman as she regained consciousness.

Waking from her daze, Tsukasa found herself on a stretcher; lifeguards were all around as they carried her past several onlookers. She could vaguely hear shouting, but it was drowned out by a loud ringing in her ears. She could see her sister past the men carrying her, worry plastered on her face, but Tsukasa found it impossible to speak, probably because she was so shaken. What had happened? Why was she being carried? And, this puzzled her most, why couldn't she feel her left leg? She could feel herself losing consciousness again, the world slowly dimming as her eyesight faded...once again, all turned black.

Back on the beach, Nanako could feel something warm trail down the side of her head. She could make out the red uniform of a lifeguard and, in complete contrast, the blue hair of her student. "Eeurg...The hell was that?" Her head felt like someone was pounding on it in the middle of a hangover, her right arm felt like it was on fire. She could make out bits of conversation between the two above her...something about a broken arm.

As fast as ever, the other lifeguards returned with the now bloody stretcher and carefully shifted the woman onto it. They went through a path in the trees behind the beach to get to the highway where an ambulance was waiting for her.

* * *

Tsukasa came to in a brightly lit room, the walls a pearly white and the sun illuminating everything. She could make out several fuzzy figures in front of her; a blue blob that she guessed was Konata, the unmistakeable lavender the she and her sister shared, a pink shadow behind her sister that could be no one else but Miyuki, a tall, blonde haired woman whom she believed to be Ms. Kuroi, and a pair with brown and violet hair that she instantly recognized as her parents. "Okaa-san?" She was surprised to hear how cracked her voice was, her throat was dry too. "May I have some water?"

A sigh of relief went around upon the question being asked. Miki, Tsukasa's mother, picked up a glass of water off the bedside table and helped the girl drink it down.

Having now had something to drink, Tsukasa began to get a hold of the situation. Gone was the beach and bathing suits, now replaced with a sterile hospital room and summer clothes. Kuroi had a bandage around her head and her arm was in a sling, she also donned a hospital gown. Her father, Tadao, was still in his work clothes, so he must have arrived there immediately after getting off work. Her sister looked like she was on the brink of tears, her hands gripping a hospital brochure to the point of it tearing. Then Tsukasa noticed something was wrong...why couldn't she feel her left leg? And why was there no sensation in the two last fingers of her left hand? She lifted her hand and stared at the bandages that covered the place where the fingers should be, now mere lumps with red stains.

The room became eerily silent as the girl before them stared at her own hand, the mesmerized expression on her face stopped all from breathing. They followed her gaze as she moved the light blue hospital blanket from her lower half to reveal a bandaged stump where her leg should have been. Then, as if she'd heard the funniest joke ever, she began to laugh. She laughed and laughed as tears formed in her eyes. She laughed until she began to cry, she cried until she began to scream, she screamed until her sister came up beside her and hugged her tightly. The door to the room flew open as a nurse rushed in to figure out the source of the commotion. The sight of the girl weeping into her sister's shoulder answered her question...she then took the time to explain the situation.

_-o0/One year later\\0o-_

That morning Tsukasa wore her hair in a short ponytail, now drenched in her sweat as she tried to catch her breath. She panted heavily as she rested against the wash station by the school track.

"Incredible! You actually kept up with her!" All around were various freshmen of varying classes. Of them all, she only knew Yutaka Kobayakawa and Hiyori Tamura, cousin and friend of Konata.

"You really gave it your all. I can't believe you've gotten this much better in only a year." Konata herself was standing beside her, equally as exhausted after five laps around the track on a warm day. "So why are you working so hard anyway?"

"After my accident, I didn't want to waste my time in highschool...so I'm putting more effort into things." Tsukasa stood up straight and adjusted her track pants. After the incident the previous year, Tsukasa had been given special permission to wear the boy's uniform to cover the artificial limb, which proved to give her a bit of a reputation with the Kouhai.

"Accident?" The kouhai around Tsukasa were leaning in close, hoping to hear.

Tsukasa leaned away from the younger students, but decided that it would be better to tell them than let them bother her. "Well..."

She told them the whole story, how it had started as a trip to the beach, how she'd found the box in the sand, how Kuroi had saved her life, and what happened afterwards. Tsukasa had been given a choice, she could either get an artificial limb that looks like a real leg, but she could never run again. Or she could get a skeletal limb that would allow her to run, but would make her injury obvious. Originally she had considered getting the realistic one, but she thought about it and realized that she might need to run in the future to avoid another accident.

"Wow, can we see?" One of the kouhai piped up. Hiyori had a sketchbook in her hands and was at the ready.

Tsukasa sighed; she'd never be rid of them if she didn't show them...so she got down on her knee and pulled the leg of her pants up to the knee. The stainless steel limb shined in the afternoon sun, being well maintained for optimum performance. An advance knee joint allowed for life-like pivoting, but there was still no feeling in the cold metal. All around her the Kouhai gasped at the sight of the false leg.

"You say you're putting more effort in, but your grades are as bad as this one's." Kagami had made her appearance, the palm of her hand resting on Konata's head.

"I am...it's just not going so well." The younger twin rolled down her pant leg and stood up straight. "And Kona-chan's grades are good if she really applies herself.

"Which is almost never." The older twin shook her head and sighed. "Come on, you said you wanted to go to the beach today, but you're not going far if you stay here any longer."

All around them, the kouhai grew silent. "She's going back? Even after what happened? Isn't she afraid it will happen again? Maybe she's gone to face what happened! Maybe she's going to clen the beach so it doesn't happen to anyone else!" A murmur of surprise went around before they looked at the 'younger' Hiiragi twin with sparkling eyes. "We're rooting for you senpai!"

* * *

The beach wasn't crowded like the last time they'd come here, people seemed discouraged by the possibility of finding abandoned bombs lying around. Amazingly, it had been Tsukasa who decided that they should go to the beach. She did not want the accident to discourage her from having fun, nor did she want to avoid the ocean for the rest of her life. She didn't intend on swimming at all, just relaxing on the beach with her friends. While Konata's cousin Yui negotiated hotel prices, everyone else went down to the less than full beach. It was ironic that the same people who had been with her on the day of the accident were now with her again on a place that held some...unpleasant memories.

"Ah man, I can't believe I left the drinks in the car!" Kuroi followed behind Konata, who once again had her shovel in hand.

"Are we going to stay on the main beach? Or will we go to the one from before?" Miyuki asked this as the group made their way towards the rocks at the end of the beach.

"We're going to the one from last time...despite what happened it's a relaxing pace to be." Tsukasa led the group over the rocks to the pristine sands on the far side. It was as if the explosion had never happened, the sand undisturbed by a crater or the like. As they set up their Blankets and umbrellas, Tsukasa felt her good leg brush up against something in the sand. She stared at the corner of a box-like object and found herself frozen in fear.

"Tsukasa, I can't straighten the blanket while you're on it. Could you please—" Kagami caught sight of what her sister was staring at and manoeuvred towards it. She brushed off the sand, but smiled at what she had found. "Kuroi-sensei, you don't need to worry about the drinks..." She grabbed the edge of the object and pulled it from the sand, and then she opened it. The sand-covered box was filled with fresh water and several cans of soda and beer. "...because I found our drinks from last time."

Tsukasa let out a sigh of relief before grabbing one of the cans, opening it, and taking a sip. She immediately spit it out. "Ah, it's warm!"

* * *

"...Even after the injury she was able to continue on with life, and discovered that there is a good side to everything." Everyone around the short table in Konata's room clapped after Miyuki had finished reading the story she'd written. "I'm admittedly disappointed with the ending, but all I could think of was a 'happily ever after' for Tsukasa."

"Now I want to go to the beach!" Konata sighed as she fell backwards to stare at the ceiling.

"B-but..." Tsukasa stared in horror at her friend.

"I'm not saying you should go get blown up, I just want to go to the beach." The short girl could feel the negative vibes emitting from Kagami, who had no intention of letting her sister get hurt like that.

"You keep your ideas to yourself." Kagami leaned against the bed behind her.

"I wouldn't mind seeing Kagamin in that situation though..."

"SHUT UP!"


End file.
